PHETCHABUN: Ban Phot Municipality is seeking permission to use 23 rai of agricultural reform land to develop an open-air museum at a fossil site located in Nong Phai district.
This site has yielded 131 species of ancient marine invertebrates, including 10 that are previously unknown to science. Wikit Phenphak, deputy mayor of Ban Phot Municipality and an advocate for the Ban Phot Ancient Sea project, emphasised that the site possesses significant geological and paleontological value. He noted that it requires specialised expertise and government support for its long-term conservation. Mr Wikit said that while the municipality could help maintain the site, it needed assistance from the Department of Mineral Resources (DoMR) and other agencies to preserve it and develop it into an educational and geotourism destination. He believes that an open-air museum would be the best option. Once a prehistoric seabed, the site has produced five newly identified species of brachiopods, commonly known as lamp shells, and five species of bryozoans, which are colonial aquatic invertebrates. Japanese palaeontologists reported five new brachiopod species from the site in 1964, while studies conducted in 1975 and 1999 identified five new bryozoan species. “These academic findings confirm Ban Phot’s potential as one of Thailand’s most important geological and palaeontological research and learning centres, with the capacity to gain international recognition,” Mr Wikit said. Research conducted by King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi estimates the fossils to be about 300 million years old, using electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Monte Carlo simulations, a statistical modelling method, suggested an age range of 320 to 326 million years. These findings may prompt a reassessment of the site's geological age. Surveys conducted by the DoMR in 2018 and 2025 identified rounded conglomerate rocks spread across about 30 rai, which researchers interpreted as evidence of a large ancient river system dating back to the Triassic Period, about 249 to 200 million years ago. The site is registered as Thailand's 26th protected fossil locality under the name Ban Phot Invertebrate Fossil Site. A fossil museum is located in Village No.11 along Highway 21, about 8km from the excavation area.